The Art of Change Leadership

Chapter 9The Art of Adapting to Multiple Personalities, Different Generations, and Cultures

We seldom realize, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.

—Alan W. Watts

The Single Most Important Factor When Leading Change

Throughout this book I have shared multiple perspectives on how you can be a transformer and how you personally can adapt to change. The single most important factor that I have found in my years of working with organizations and leaders is the ability to be an “uber adaptor.” What is required, in addition to building your self-awareness and your personal change strategies, is that you must master the ability to connect with and relate to and influence others at the highest level possible. How do you do that?

You have to understand the many dimensions that make up an individual's approach to life and work. I mentioned earlier in the book that the future leader will have a prevalent attitude of being a humble leader and it is only in being consistently open to learning that one can be truly humble. A leader who, when leading change, has the combination of being humble by being a constant learner while also having the confidence of experience and skill, has the combination that is powerfully influential on others. People trust you when you are a lifelong student while also being a master teacher. Recently I ...